Conciliation, a prayer to yield amidst contention (CCAR 1923)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown and Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

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20 February 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Aseret Yemei Tshuvah, English vernacular prayer, Jewish pacifism, non-violence, peace, teḥinot in English

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	When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. (Proverbs 16:7)
	A soft answer turneth away wrath, but a grievous word stirreth up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)
	Leave off contention before the quarrel break out. (Proverbs 17:14)
	Do good, seek peace and pursue it. (Psalms 34:15)
	The followers of the sages augment peace in the world. (Berakhot 64a)
	One of the things having fruitage both in this world and in the hereafter is the act of conciliating men with one another. (Mishnah Peah 1.1)
	One of the world’s three pedestals is peace.^[1] A teaching offered in the name of Rebbi Shimon ben Gamliel after Zechariah 8:16. (Cf. Pirqei Avot 1.18)
	They who are contemned but contemn not others; who hear themselves reproached but make no reply, whose every act is love, who cheerfully bear their afflictions, are the ones described in the scriptural verse (Judges 5:3): “God’s lovers are like the sun in his might.” (Sabbath 88b.2)
	In a world abounding in diversities of temperaments, environments and experiences, spontaneous harmony between individuals and nations is rare. The temptation to quarrel is inevitable. Unless there be conciliation there can be no peace.
	The longer a contention has lasted the harder does yielding become, hence the Scripture bids us “leave off contention before the quarrel break out” (Proverbs 17:14). The best time for yielding is before the strife has made headway. In warfare whether between individuals or between nations, the original grievance is soon obscured amid the growing accumulation of incriminations and recriminations, retaliations and reprisals. The fire of contention feeds upon itself until it is beyond control. We must conciliate at the outset before conciliation grows too difficult.
	Our elemental selfishness and impulsiveness are obstacles to peace. Too seldom do we reflect that if yielding be disagreeable for us, it is no less disagreeable for others.
	Another obstacle to peace is the confusion of it with fear. We are readily deluded into the assumption that yielding is cowardice. Sometimes indeed men do yield because of cowardice; but more frequently it is because of cowardice that they refuse to yield; for what form of cowardice is more prevalent than the fear of being thought a coward! Let us yield for the sake of peace. There will then be no occasion to yield because of fear.
	There are, of course, fundamental convictions in religion and morals upon which there may be no yielding. Rarely, however, do these convictions lead us into strife, while often, when we assert that we are battling for our principles, the searching of our hearts may reveal that not our principles but our vanities are the object of our contention.
	When our holiest convictions are assailed, and there can be no yielding, there can still be a conciliation, namely the conciliation of suffering, the willingness to endure for the sake of peace. Suffering obviates strife and thus becomes conciliation at its noblest.
	O Eternal One, who makest peace in Thy high places, send peace unto Thy children. Teach me to love peace and to seek to establish it. Strengthen me to forgive wrongdoing. Teach me to endure for the sake of Thy name. I contemplate the holy men and martyrs by whom the world has been glorified, and I pray that my life be touched by their influence. My personal prerogatives— how unimportant! Peace among men— how vastly important! Conciliation not from fear but in the fearless quest of peace, O make this my aim, Thou Eternal One, that peace may increase in the world and the choice fruits of peace be reaped by all Thy children. Amen.

“Conciliation” is the fourteenth prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 50-52. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution of authorship for any of the prayers in this volume.

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Notes

Notes
1	A teaching offered in the name of Rebbi Shimon ben Gamliel after Zechariah 8:16.

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Unknown

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

Conciliation, a prayer to yield amidst contention (CCAR 1923)

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